Method and apparatus for analyzing computed tomography data

Abstract

A method of analyzing computed tomography data includes creating a mesh of a sampling surface that extends through a component to obtain a meshed surface; creating a plurality of additional surfaces that are different from each other and from the meshed surface, and that each correspond to one or more of a translation and a rotation of the meshed surface; querying an interpolant function, which is fitted to CT data of the component, at a plurality of points of the meshed surface to project the CT data onto the meshed surface; querying the interpolant function at a plurality of points of the additional surfaces to project the CT data onto the additional surfaces; and determining, for each of the plurality of points of the meshed surface, whether the point is a void based on the querying for the meshed surface and the querying for the additional surfaces.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method of analyzing computed tomography data, comprising:
 creating a mesh of a sampling surface that extends through a component to obtain a meshed surface; 
 creating a plurality of additional surfaces that are different from each other and from the meshed surface, wherein each of the additional surfaces are translations of the meshed surface along vectors that are normal to the meshed surface; 
 querying an interpolant function, which is fitted to computed tomography (CT) data of the component, at a plurality of points of the meshed surface to project the CT data onto the meshed surface; 
 for each of the points of the meshed surface, querying the interpolant function at a plurality of corresponding points of the additional surfaces to project the CT data onto the additional surfaces, wherein for each of the points of the meshed surface, the point and its corresponding points in the additional surfaces are provided on a respective one of the vectors that are normal to the meshed surface; 
 determining, for each of the plurality of points of the meshed surface, that the point is a void based on either of the following occurring:
 the querying of the point in the meshed surface indicating that the point is a void; 
 the querying of the corresponding points in the additional surfaces indicating that a predefined quantity of the corresponding points are voids; and 
 
 calculating a metric of the component based on the determining, and providing a notification of the metric. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the predefined quantity is one. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the translations are provided in a positive direction and a negative direction, such that for each of the points of the meshed surface, the corresponding points are provided on opposing sides of the meshed surface. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , comprising:
 aligning a computer model of the sampling surface with the CT data prior to the querying steps, such that the computer model of the surface and the CT data are aligned for the projection of the CT data onto the meshed surface. 
 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 4 , wherein said aligning the computer model of the sampling surface with the CT data comprises performing a translation, a rotation, or both, of one or both of the computer model and the CT data. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the CT data of the component is segmented CT data, the component is a ceramic matric composite (CMC) component, and the method comprises:
 obtaining initial CT data for the CMC component; and 
 segmenting the initial CT data between CMC and voids to obtain the segmented CT data. 
 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 6 , wherein the metric is a void area fraction of the sampling surface that extends through the CMC component. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 6 , wherein at least a portion of the sampling surface includes an interfacial area where layers of the CMC component abut each other. 
     
     
       9. A system for analysis of computed tomography data, comprising:
 processing circuitry operatively connected to memory, the processing circuitry configured to: 
 create a mesh of a sampling surface that extends through a component to obtain a meshed surface; 
 create a plurality of additional surfaces that are different from each other and from the meshed surface, and that each correspond to one or more of a translation and a rotation of the meshed surface, wherein each of the additional surfaces are translations of the meshed surface along vectors that are normal to the meshed surface; 
 query an interpolant function, which is fitted to computed tomography (CT) data of the component, at a plurality of points of the meshed surface to project the CT data onto the meshed surface; 
 for each of the points of the meshed surface, query the interpolant function at a plurality of corresponding points of the additional surfaces to project the CT data onto the additional surfaces, wherein for each of the points of the meshed surface, the point and its corresponding points in the additional surfaces are provided on a respective one of the vectors that are normal to the meshed surface; 
 determine, for each of the plurality of points of the meshed surface, that the point is a void based on either of the following occurring:
 the query of the point in the meshed surface indicating that the point is a void; 
 the query of the corresponding points in the additional surfaces indicating that a predefined quantity of the corresponding points are voids; and 
 
 calculate a metric of the component based on the determining, and provide a notification of the metric. 
 
     
     
       10. The system of  claim 9 , wherein the predefined quantity is one. 
     
     
       11. The system of  claim 9 , wherein the translations are provided in a positive direction and a negative direction, such that for each of the points of the meshed surface, the corresponding points are provided on opposing sides of the meshed surface. 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 9 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:
 align a computer model of the sampling surface with the CT data prior to the querying of the interpolant function for the meshed surface and additional surfaces, such that the computer model of the surface and the CT data are aligned for the projection of the CT data onto the meshed surface. 
 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 12 , wherein to align the computer model of the sampling surface with the CT data, the processing circuitry is configured to perform a translation, a rotation, or both, of one or both of the computer model and the CT data. 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 9 , wherein the CT data of the component is segmented CT data, the component is a ceramic matric composite (CMC) component, and the processing circuitry is configured to:
 obtain initial CT data for the CMC component; and 
 segment the initial CT data between CMC and voids to obtain the segmented CT data. 
 
     
     
       15. The system of  claim 14 , wherein the metric is a void area fraction of the surface that extends through the CMC component. 
     
     
       16. The system of  claim 14 , wherein at least a portion of the sampling surface includes an interfacial area where layers of the CMC component abut each other.